The Concord Police Department is staffing officers at Sunvalley Shopping Center during the holiday shopping season.
Officials said department staffing levels for the first time in years are high enough to send officers to the mall, which is part of a push to prevent holiday crime.
"We like to see more police," said Moh Mansurah, a store owner who has been hit by thieves before.
In addition to mall security already in place, police will be paroling the areal up to the holidays.
"Not only does crime spike in Concord, but in the Bay Area, this time of year you do see an increase in vehicle burglaries and thefts you also see increase," said Corporal Christopher Blakeley of the Concord Police Department. "So it's nice for our officers to be down here to be a presence."
Police said in the last two years there have been more than 300 calls for service at Sun Valley Mall. Nearly 200 of those calls were for shoplifting.
"Just the officers presence itself greatly decreases crime," Blakeley said.
